Key Statistics

• Netflix has consistently maintained its position as the leading OTT platform globally, with over 300 million subscribers as of late 2024.
• The company’s 2025 Q3 earnings were reported at $11.51 billion, with a 17.16% increase year-over-year.
• Bela Bajaria the CCO of Netflix is in charge of a $17 billion annual content budget at the streaming giant.
• The rapid globalisation of Netflix under Bajaria is visible in the platform’s 2025 Q1 earnings, led by a 23% year-over-year growth in the APAC region followed by 15% in the EMEA region. 
• In 2024, the platform added 41 million new subscribers.

Bela Bajaria, widely considered to be one of the most powerful women in the global entertainment sector, is the Chief Content Officer of Netflix. Her appointment to this role in 2023 made it to the news globally, further strengthening her well-established reputation in the industry. 

Under her leadership, the platform has consistently maintained its position as the leading OTT platform globally, with over 300 million subscribers as of late 2024.  The company’s 2025 Q3 earnings were reported at $11.51 billion, with a 17.16% increase year-over-year. Bajaria was appointed into this key role in January 2023, and has since made significant efforts in increasing content expenditure, encouraging globalisation and building a greater space for inclusivity and diversity. Since her appointment in 2023, the year-on-year growth percentage of Netflix has seen a positive jump- with 6.67% in 2023 and 15.65% in 2024. 

As the Chief Content Officer, Bajaria reports directly to Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos. She is in charge of a $17 billion annual content budget at the streaming giant, responsible for the vast range of content offered on the platform. Netflix’s expansion into live programming was headed by Bajaria, who also forged a groundbreaking partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). This partnership secured Netflix the streaming rights for WWE’s flagship programme- ‘Raw’. In this strong step into sports entertainment, Bajaria also secured Netflix the streaming rights for NFL’s Christmas Day games. 

As the CCO, Bajaria has been a strong force in driving Netflix’s rapid expansion into a global range of content catering to diverse audiences in terms of genres, languages, types and regions. She has been responsible for shows such as ‘Stranger Things,’ ‘Squid Game,’ ‘Wednesday,’ ‘Bridgerton,’ and films including ‘Leave the World Behind,’ ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ and Oscar winners ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ and ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.’ The platform’s 2025 Q1 earnings highlight the rapid globalisation driven by Bajaria’s leadership, with 23% year-over-year growth in APAC, followed by 15% in EMEA. In 2024, the platform added 41 million new subscribers. The platform is home to arguably the most diverse content range spanning across these parameters. Bajaria seeks to enhance the platform’s ability to have something for everyone, to ensure that there is content for everyone to resonate with. 

Bajaria joined Netflix in 2016, when the platform was solidifying its unscripted programming scene with shows such as the critically acclaimed Queer Eye, Nailed It!, and Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. Bajaria was responsible for overseeing these three unscripted programmes, as well as some scripted originals such as the popular show Never Have I Ever, and YOU. In 2020, she was appointed as the Global TV Head at Netflix, a role that involved overseeing all scripted and unscripted shows across the globe. As the Global TV Head, she has been responsible for some of Netflix’s most popular and highly viewed hit shows like Bridgerton, The Queen’s Gambit, Lupin, and Cobra Kai. Having been a critical part of Netflix’s growing popularity globally, Bajaria was appointed as the Chief Content Officer in 2023, making her responsible for all of the platform’s content globally. Her steady rise to the top at the streaming giant is an inspirational story of growth and success in the entertainment industry. 

Before joining Netflix, Bajaria has held various senior roles at media companies including CBS Entertainment and NBC Universal. She simultaneously held the roles of Senior Vice President, Cable Programming for CBS TV Studios, and Senior Vice President of Movies and Miniseries for CBS Network.  At NBCUniversal, she was the President of Universal Television and helped to revive a major TV studio which had been shut down for years. Here, she also became the first woman of colour to oversee a studio. 

Outside of Netflix, Bajaria has been elected as a Director of The Coca-Cola Company in 2024. In terms of philanthropy and social work, she has been a strong advocate for girls’ education. She has often used her platform and voice to spotlight the work of organisations such as the global nonprofit- Room to Read, which works with girls in over 24 countries to help them learn to read and complete their secondary education. 

Bajaria’s leadership has been described as a steady balance between business and creativity, which is the soul of a platform such as Netflix. This has been indicated in the performance of shows such as Adolescence, which touched upon relevant social concepts and experimented with creative styles while also performing well commercially. The show garnered 146 million views in its first 91 days, and won eight Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. The show was one of the biggest winners at the Emmy Awards this year. Having released a number of innovative, experimental and critically acclaimed works in the past year under Bajaria’s leadership, the platform reported a revenue generation of $39 billion in 2024, an increase of 15.7% from 2023.

Bajaria has been a strong spokesperson for streaming platforms such as Netflix, and has addressed the various threats and criticisms these platforms face. While confronted with certain creators choosing pay-per-view over streaming services, she advocated for the concept of streaming services and the convenience they offer. With regards to speculations about whether Netflix plans to add pay-per-view options similar to numerous other streaming platforms, she stood her ground firmly on Netflix only charging its customers the subscription fees and then ensuring that they have access to all the content on it without any additional charges. This approach ultimately helps Netflix stand apart from competitors that rely on pay-per-view models and reinforces its identity as a straightforward, subscription-based service.

Bajaria has been awarded with multiple accolades such as the Industry Leadership Award in 2018 by the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, TV Executive of the Year Award in 2022 from the HRTS, and has been recognised in Time’s 100 Most Influential People as well as on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list multiple times. Previously, she has also won the Miss LA India contest, Miss India USA contest, and was eventually crowned Miss India Worldwide in 1991. 

The rise of creative leaders like Bela Bajaria is a key step in breaking the gender barrier in media leadership, as well as better representation of women in all mainstream and alternative content. As media and entertainment is simultaneously a reflection and shaper of the society we live in, this is an integral change required for development.

Bajaria has made inclusion and representation a priority in her work. She has often spoken about how she views all content from an inclusive perspective. Her own experience of growing up as an immigrant who loved watching television strongly influences her prioritisation of inclusion and representation.